1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to error reporting for software applications and more particularly relates to a system and method for collecting software development feedback.
2. Description of the Related Art
User feedback is often extremely valuable in software development. Although software developers typically test software applications prior to releasing them to the public, certain flaws in the software may not become apparent until the application is used in the many diverse environments that it may encounter in consumer operation. Furthermore, customers may use the software to perform unexpected functions, with unexpectedly large amounts of data, or in unexpected combinations with other applications. Such uses may uncover hidden flaws in the software application code, the software design, or issues with the usability of the application user interface.
Current feedback methods are cumbersome. One method of providing problem tracking is to provide a customer service call center that users can contact to report problems with the software application. Alternatively, online forums are available for customers to post software problems. However, responses to forum posts are often unreliable and disorganized. Additionally, the posts themselves are typically disorganized, and not sufficiently descriptive.
In such solutions, highly critical issues may be lost in a high volume of forum posts, because there is often no method for indicating the priority of the issue. Forums may also be difficult for the development community, because there are often hundreds of posts that a developer has to sort through to determine what problems users are experiencing. Another problem with these types of error reporting solutions is that they typically require calling in or logging in to a remote system, which may be distracting and difficult to provide sufficient information about the problem. The only alternative is to report on the problem after the fact, relying on memory of the specific details of the issue.